The Tale of an Old(ish) Man Getting In and Out of a Wetsuit...

Jamie and I are so thankful when Dad and Julie come to visit! This past visit was particularly special, as they came up from San Diego, fresh from meeting Benicio. Their love for Boo is so sweet to watch — dad carried her up and down the stairs every morning and night, and they both took her on a neighborhood stroll each day to the park. Jamie got ice cream brought home to her several times, and they got acquainted with our friends and our new surrounding streets.

The first night they arrived in San Francisco we took them to the skate park where they met our friends who skate with us on a weekly basis since the Pandemic began. Dad ended up doing the entire loop of the skate park with no assistance — skate boards have come a long way from the days he used to make them out of wood and metal wheels, we learned. As I skated beside him, he muttered, “you know, I really want to learn to surf.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can imagine my excitement and astonishment — why this is the first time I am hearing of it, I have no clue. But that changed our Sunday itinerary, and we went to Santa Cruz and rented him a wetsuit and surf board.

The entertainment began before we entered the water - as dad put on his wetsuit backwards, repeatedly. For him, putting on the wetsuit was difficult; but for us, the hard part was helping him take it off. Julie pulled at the ankle of the suit while dad leaned into the car. The reason dad proceeded to put it back on incorrectly was due to the sound of a train of tourists from the nearby railroad tracks. He waved at them as they waved back, sticking his legs back into the wetsuit as Julie pulled at the excess around his knees. Dad then shouted “Can’t you tell I’m a local? I know what I am doing!” However he had put on the suit backwards, again, and the process of getting it back off was unbelievable.

Once in the water, teaching him the basics continued to not be easy, as we are working on them ourselves. Impressively, he was out on the water for over 2 hours, and he practiced his pop-ups. We never really lost sight of him as Jamie and I caught our own waves, as we heard his voice carry from the other surfers he talked with. We heard things like:

“Don’t worry, I’m a professional surfer.”

“I’ve been doing this a long time, but don’t get too close.”

Once we got out of the water, it was fun to listen to his initial impressions. He got knocked around a bit by some waves, and found humor when intense waves caused a multitude of surf boards to fly into the air. All in all, he had fun. And he intends to do strengthening exercises between now and next time.

One day we went into Sonoma for wine tasting at Simi Winery and hiked among the redwoods around Russian River. Another day we hiked along Point Reyes National Seashore, followed by a late lunch at Point Reyes Station. We scoped out fishing spots near Fort Point in the city, and afterwards ate at Mel’s Diner — an iconic chain diner for the Bay area, where “American Graffiti” was filmed.

We are so thankful for the time they spent with us, and the love and attention they gave to Boo. Jamie misses her mid-day ice cream the most.